Beautiful Vibrant Dahlias

Every year as dahlia season approaches I enthusiastically place my orders online.  It’s quite intense, I need to be quick and scan the websites furiously, otherwise I literally watch the availability of dahlia tubers disappear in front of my eyes while frantically placing my orders!  

The fun part is then sorting them and deciding where in the garden they will be planted.  Over the last few years, and at my current house, I have always been a little disappointed with the results.  For one reason or another the dahlias have been rather stubborn and refused to provide me with flourishing blooms, or the season has been very short.  Last year the weather wasn’t so favourable and there was a flood in my garden.  I therefore assumed that was the reason they didn’t surface beyond the soil, even though not all of the tubers were in the flooded area.

This season I decided things would be different, and thought I would trial planting the dahlias in pots.  I have a wonderful area upstairs, an outdoor deck off my bedroom…officially now known as my rooftop garden!  As a little experiment I first planted 12 rose bushes in troughs - my kind gardener lent me a collection of his pots to see if this new garden concept would work before I invested in further containers.  I am pleased to report it has been a huge success.

My rooftop dahlia garden is rewarding me with a beautiful selection of colours and varieties.  Every morning and evening I water them by hand as they are not connected to the watering system.  I have also fed and sprayed them, and the truth be known, I often talk to them too!  They are affectionately known as “the ladies”.

With this garden my learning has been, in future, stake them!  The ladies have survived and most have been okay, however next year I will place three stakes in each pot and some string wrapped around the plant, and perhaps a crossover grid throughout the foliage.  I will also double my selection…I can hardly wait for the annual website scuffle!